To Have and Withhold
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Jed and Abbey have a disagreement about some renovations, and they remain at odds until a solution is suggested to them: withhold sex until you get what you want.
Author's Note: This story comes in the Bartlet History universe about six weeks after Where My Love Lies Waiting. This trope is super overdone, but I thought it would be fun to give it to Jed and Abbey and see what they did with it. It's cliche, but it makes me happy, and I hope you all enjoy it too!

 **To Have and Withhold**

"Jed, can you come take a look at this, please?" Abbey asked, entering Jed's study. She was still getting used to calling it that. All his life, that room had been his grandfather's library, and that's how Abbey had known it when she and Jed had visited the farm all those times before Josiah's death. They'd been living there almost a month, and Jed had just started to use the room as his own.

"What do you need, honey?" he asked distractedly, not lifting his head from the book he was reading.

"I need your opinion on these paint samples," she replied impatiently.

Now he looked up. "What are you painting?"

Abbey frowned. "Jed, I've been telling you for weeks that we needed to redo some of these rooms."

"Why?"

"Well, Lizzie needs her room redecorated. And I need an office of my own, especially once I start school. I was thinking of using the gun room."

"You want your office to be with all the antique rifles?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're going to put those up in the attic."

"Abbey, that's insane. We have plenty of other rooms for you to use as an office. We can keep the gun room locked. I don't like them anymore than you do, but they're antiques, and it's a collection that's been in the family for over a hundred years."

"I will not have guns in my house, especially with our daughter. Accidents happen, no matter how many precautions you take. And keeping the room locked is not going to stop Liz, I can guarantee it. That child is curious and stubborn and having guns, even in a locked room, gives me anxiety like you wouldn't believe. So will you just do it?" Her voice was raising with the frustration in each word.

Jed didn't look happy, but he understood her concerns. Anything other than guns would have been alright. But Abbey was right. Accidents happen. And accidents with guns were far too damaging for any risk at all to be worth it. "Alright, I'll get to it this weekend."

She gave a small smile and a nod. "Thank you. Now would you please choose a color you like for our bedroom?"

"What's wrong with the paint we have now?" His expression changed to one of surprise, as though he was scandalized by the very notion of painting the bedroom.

"Well, for starters, it's decades old," she explained.

He frowned. "I like the color that's in there. Just pick something close to that green, and have it redone."

Abbey could feel herself digging her heels in, but she wasn't going to stop herself. "I don't want the green. I want something new."

"Well I don't."

She stared at him for a few moments before turning around and walking out of the room. She was in no mood to fight with him over this. They needed to redecorate the house if they were ever going to make it their own. Soon enough, he'd realize that as well and pick a damn paint color.

After his wife stormed out, Jed sighed and went back to his book. There was nothing wrong with that paint. And besides, this house had been relatively unchanged for over fifty years. It was disrespectful to move in and start changing everything. Abbey would surely come to understand that and give up on this ridiculous redecorating campaign.

Over the next few days, Abbey subtly hinted at the paint, even going so far as to use her daughter.

"Daddy, can we pick out the paint for my room this weekend?" Liz asked sweetly at breakfast one day.

Abbey tried to hide her smile. Liz was a natural. She was going to be a terror, but for now, Abbey was proud of her child. They all knew Jed was wrapped around her little finger, and anything she asked for, he was sure to find a way to get.

Jed glanced at his wife and saw that expression on her face. Oh she thought she was so clever. He smirked to himself. "I think we can make that happen, sweet pea," he told his daughter.

Glad he had provided her the perfect cue, Abbey interjected, "And we can get paint for our room at the same time."

Before Jed could react, Liz turned to her mother with a very sour look on her little face. "No, Mommy, this is for me only. You don't need paint for your room."

 _Damn! He got to her!_ Abbey thought to herself. But she played it cool. "And why do you say that, baby doll?"

"You have a grownup room already. My room is a grownup room but I'm a kid, so we have to make it into a kid room," Liz explained, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Abbey glared at Jed. He chuckled to himself and suddenly became very interested in eating his breakfast.

After that, Abbey knew she'd have to get a little more creative. The next night, Liz had been very stubborn in going to bed. Usually, Jed read her a story and then Abbey tucked her in and sang her to sleep. But it had taken almost twenty minutes of different songs before little Elizabeth Bartlet had finally decided she was tired.

When Abbey finally got Liz to sleep, she found Jed already in bed reading. "You turned in early. I know I was in there a while, but it's not even ten yet."

"I've been enjoying this new Friedman book," he replied simply.

"So you're not too tired?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Not particularly…"

"Good." She sauntered over to him with what was trying to be a sultry smile. But whenever Abbey was really, truly pleased with something, her nose wrinkled up in the most endearing way. And before Jed knew it, she had straddled him and began unbuttoning his pajama shirt as she kissed him.

In the midst of their foreplay, Jed let his guard down. As anyone would. And that was when Abbey pounced.

"Just think of how great this will be with a beautiful russet color on the walls," she murmured in between sucking on his neck.

But it didn't even faze him. "We're keeping the green," he responded as he moved his face down to her chest.

Abbey had been thwarted once again, but the way he was touching her, she couldn't bother to care in that moment.

Another few days of failed attempts at persuasion later, Abbey was complaining on the phone to her best friend. "Millie, I swear to god, he's killing me. I know he's stubborn and he doesn't love change, but this is ridiculous."

"Have you tried actually talking to him about it?"

"He won't talk about it! He just says no!" Abbey replied with frustration.

Millie started to giggle. "Well, you could always do what I do when Dave won't do what I ask."

"Oh? And what's that?" Abbey asked suspiciously.

"Use sex."

Abbey sighed. "I already tried that. He still said no. And then I got too distracted…"

Millie scoffed, "No, don't ask him while you're having sex! That's ridiculous. No, withhold sex until he caves."

That wasn't what Abbey had in mind. "Oh my god! You do that?"

"When I need to, sure. It works really well," Millie assured her.

"Don't you get…frustrated?" Abbey couldn't imagine denying Jed and herself the fun of sex if they were both actually in the mood.

Millie just laughed. "I can't imagine it would ever get that bad, ever. Men want and need sex way more than women anyway."

"I don't know about that…" Abbey was not convinced, if her personal experience in her marriage was anything to go by. It was one thing to be annoyed enough to lose arousal, but it was quite another to manipulate a spouse that way. But then again, Dave and Millie weren't married yet, though Abbey didn't think that should change anything.

"Do what you want. But it is effective."

"Is Dave there?"

"Why, you want to ask him?"

"Yes, actually."

Millie sighed. "Yeah, fine. But don't tell him about withholding sex. I don't think it'll work anymore if he knows about it."

Abbey waited while Millie got her fiancé on the phone, chuckling at the ridiculousness of the very idea of withholding sex to get her way.

"Hey, Abb, what's goin' on?" Dave greeted.

"Help me out, Dave. I want to paint the bedroom, and Jed doesn't want me to change it. He won't discuss it. He just says no. How did Samantha make Darrin do things?"

"Well, considering you can't point and turn him into a chimpanzee, you'll need to be a little subtler," Dave told her.

She laughed. "Did Samantha really do that?"

"No, Endora did. You're no Samantha Stevens. You know that. You're Endora."

Abbey cackled in response, amused beyond belief at her friend's obsession with Bewitched.

"You see! That's an Endora laugh if I ever heard one!"

"You're no help. Either tell me something useful or put Millie back on the phone."

Dave proceeded to tell Abbey a long, drawn out story about his most recent ad campaign for an ice cream company which was far less interesting than a story about ice cream really should be.

Abbey was still thinking about what Millie had said as she got into bed that night. She glared at the green paint she was growing to hate. Jed was settling in beside her. Abbey turned over to face him. "I talked to Millie and Dave today."

"Oh yeah? How are they doing?" he asked, rolling over so they were face to face. They were only inches apart, so he leaned forward to kiss the tip of her nose.

Abbey smiled, wrinkling her nose. She knew now that her response to Millie had been entirely warranted. "They're doing well. I was complaining to her about our paint problem, and she suggested that I withhold sex until you give in to what I want. And I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Jed laughed softly. "That wouldn't work with us anyway. You'd give in before I would, and it would completely backfire."

Abbey was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I think we both know that you're the one who can't hold out, not me."

She was slack-jawed in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, I was celibate when we got together. And I could have gone on that way until we got married. You're the one who wanted to sin a week after we got engaged!"

Now she was getting angry. "I didn't get any complaints from you!"

Jed chuckled somewhat nervously. "Abbey, keep your voice down. You'll wake up Liz."

She sat up and turned on her bedside lamp. "You know what? No. Just for that, I am going to withhold sex. To hell with the paint, I bet you come begging for me long before I'd even _think_ about crawling to you."

"You're serious?"

"You bet your ass I am!"

"Abigail, language!"

"Oh shut up." With that, Abbey turned out her light and pulled the covers over her shoulders, edging as far away from him in bed as she could.

Jed sat there, mildly shell-shocked. But fine, if that's how she wanted it, he'd show her. He settled into bed and turned away from her to go to sleep.

The next morning, he half hoped she'd forget about what they'd talked about and they could go about as usual. But he knew her better than that.

They were awoken on Saturday morning by having their daughter belly flop onto their bed—mostly just onto Abbey.

"Oh my god, Liz! Do you really have to jump on me like that?" she groaned.

"It's just because I love you, Mommy," their little girl replied sweetly.

Abbey growled slightly as she sat up. "I love you too, baby doll, but getting your elbow in my chest is not how I like to wake up."

Elizabeth ignored her mother's grumbling and turned her attention to her father. "Daddy, can we go get paint today?"

"Yes, sweet pea. We're going to get paint just for your room," he replied, emphasizing the fact that they would _not_ be getting anything for any other room in the house.

Abbey glared at him but said nothing. She got out of bed and went into the bathroom, leaving her husband and child to their morning discussion.

Jed watched Abbey go, but quickly turned back to Liz. "Do you know what color you want?" he asked.

"I like purple. And yellow. And green."

"And blue and pink?"

She thought for a moment. "No. I think just purple and yellow and green."

Jed chuckled. She was such a particular little thing. "Alright, so we can find a nice purple for the walls and some yellow and green for the trim. I think that'll be great."

Liz looked around the bedroom, thinking. She knew Daddy didn't want to get a new color for the walls in his and Mommy's room. But Liz couldn't help but feel like the green wasn't very nice. Mommy was right. They needed a new color.

"What are you looking at, Lizzie?" Jed asked patiently.

"I don't want my green to be like this green," she told him. "This isn't a nice green."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Did your mother tell you to say that?"

She shook her head. "Mommy doesn't like it and she wants a new color. And this isn't a nice green. Daddy, I think Mommy should win this time."

Jed wanted to say that Mommy wins every time, but he didn't. "Elizabeth, this is not a game. This is changing a room that's looked like this for almost a hundred years. It's important to respect the house."

"But it's _our_ house, Daddy."

Before Jed could fully process the wisdom of his child, the bathroom door opened. Abbey came out wrapped in just a towel. Her hair was wet and dripping down her back. "Elizabeth, go get dressed for the day and feed the cats," she instructed.

Liz nodded and crawled off the bed to leave the room.

"We should both get dressed if we're going to have Saturday waffles before we go out," Abbey prompted.

Jed just stared at her. She had looked exactly like that—happy and dripping wet in a towel—when they had made love for the first time. They'd gotten caught in a rainstorm and gone back to Abbey's apartment at Notre Dame. And ever since, he associated her wet hair with that time.

"Jed?"

He blinked back to reality.

"You see something you like, honey?" she taunted.

That glint in her eye was all he needed to tell that she was baiting him after their ridiculous challenge from the night before. "You're starting off strong. I'll give you that, doc. But it'll take a lot more than you wet hair to make me give up _all_ my self-control."

Abbey frowned slightly. "This doesn't do it for you?" She couldn't believe she was actually feeling mildly offended.

"Oh it does. After I win this bet, do that again and see what happens," he replied with a smirk.

She just rolled her eyes. She walked past the bed toward the closet, taking the towel off her body and wrapping her head up to keep her hair from dripping all over the carpet.

"Are you really this desperate already?" Jed asked with a laugh as he gazed at her naked body.

Abbey whipped her head around back at him and scolded, "My body, nude or otherwise, does not exist solely to turn you on. If I don't put any clothes on, it's my business, and frankly, I don't care what you do! Just keep your damn hands to yourself."

Jed got out of bed and crossed the room to her. He pressed a simple kiss to her bare shoulder. "Your body is your own, but it's very beautiful, and I quite appreciate it." With that, he went to the bathroom, leaving Abbey to get ready for the day.

As he shaved that morning, Jed thought about what he could do to get back at her for that stunt. If that's how she was going to play, he'd do the same thing right back at her.

Abbey was already down in the kitchen making breakfast when he came out of the bathroom. He got dressed with a smile on his face, curious as to what reaction she would have. She was busy at the waffle iron when he came down.

"Elizabeth, you gave the cats far too much food. You know we only fill the bowl halfway. Otherwise they'll get fat and lazy, and that's no good for a farm cat," Jed said.

His words had the desired effect. Abbey turned around to see what was happening just as he bent down to pick up the cat food bowl. He heard her exhale loudly and chuckled to himself. She had often commented about how she liked walking behind him when he wore these jeans. He straightened up and walked toward her. Now she noticed his polo shirt, tight over his chest and tucked into his pants.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Now who's playing dirty?"

"Technically, neither of us."

"Well, it's nice to have some competition," Abbey replied with a wink.

Jed laughed heartily. "You realize this is stupid, right?"

"The words of a man who knows he can't win," she countered.

"You want to watch me put this bowl back on the ground?" he challenged.

"Oh shut up. My waffles are burning."

"Damn right they are," he muttered.

Now it was Abbey's turn to laugh. And little did she know that the sound of her laughter was yet another surefire way to torture him.

Liz watched the scene between her parents, thoroughly confused. All she knew was that she was hungry, and Mommy was burning her waffles.

After the Bartlets all finished eating, they got in the car and went to the paint store. Liz ran all around the store to find colors she wanted for her room. Jed did his best to keep her from terrorizing the other patrons, but she was far too excited to calm down to a respectable level. So he just chased her around, trying not to shout at her in frustration. After all, they were in public.

Abbey was quite content to let him take on that responsibility. She had spent far too much time dealing with their wonderful terror of a daughter. It was nice to have the brunt of the burden shifted for once. And Liz always responded better to Jed anyway. Abbey couldn't imagine what would have happened if she had been alone with their child. So instead, she wandered the rows and rows of paint samples, trying to think of what she'd like in her office.

As Jed was calmly showing Liz all the different colors of purple and helping her decide on a shade that wasn't too outlandish, Abbey found herself enamored with a very subtle gray-blue. Once Jed got those damn guns out, she knew that color would look beautiful in that room. A very pretty and calming color, perfect for the home office of a medical student. She pocketed the sample and went over to check on her family.

"Picked something you like, baby doll?" Abbey asked.

Liz excitedly showed her the pale lilac she and Jed had chosen for the walls of her room. "Look, Mommy! It's pretty like flowers."

Abbey nodded with a bright smile. "You're right. It's beautiful."

"And now we're off to find a green and a yellow that will go with it for the trim," Jed informed her.

"But it's gonna be a pretty green. Not like the green in your room, Mommy. I don't like that green," Liz explained.

Abbey smirked. Jed frowned and led Liz away to look at a 'nice' green. Abbey could tell she'd eventually get her way with the paint. Just so she was prepared, she wandered over to browns and reds to find the exact color combination she envisioned for their master bedroom. A soft clay color for the walls and a rich coffee brown for the trim. How Jed could possibly think that green could ever be a better choice was beyond her.

Jed could see what she was doing. "Hey. No russet," he scolded.

She sighed audibly. "Can we at least talk about this?"

"We can if you drop this…withholding nonsense."

"Are you admitting defeat?"

"Never!"

Abbey glared at him over the low aisle between them. "Then game on, boyfriend."

He rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance.

They left the paint store with two gallons of the lilac paint, a gallon of a soft mint green, and a quart of a very pale yellow. Liz was elated. Jed's wallet was significantly lighter. And Abbey still had the other paint samples in her pocket.

"Daddy, when do we get to paint?" Liz asked, skipping back to the car, holding onto her quart of yellow paint.

"I'll call some professionals and get it done in a few weeks."

"A few weeks?" she whined.

Jed wasn't going to say it out loud, but he figured that he would have to get more than just Liz's room painted, and he'd rather get it all done at once. At the very least, he'd let Abbey paint the gun room once he got the rifles stored elsewhere. She did need an office, and that room would be just fine. The bedroom, on the other hand, was another conversation to be had at a much later date.

Abbey quelled Liz's fears as they put all the paint in the trunk of the car. "Painting takes a lot of time and money. Please be patient, Lizzie."

There was an odd, quiet tension in the car as they went back to the farm. When Jed parked out front, Abbey asked him to put the paint in the barn and take Liz out to the horses for a little while. She needed a little time to herself in the house.

Jed was caught between being confused and concerned, but he just nodded and took their daughter out to play with the animals.

As soon as they were gone, Abbey went in the kitchen and dialed her best friend's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Oh Millie, thank god."

"Abbey? What's the matter?"

"This is the worst idea you've ever had."

Millie was quite confused. "What idea? Abbey, what's going on!?"

Abbey sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I told Jed that your suggestion for getting him to agree to the paint was to withhold sex, and he thought it was as ridiculous as I did."

"So what's the problem?"

"He laughed and said that it would never work because I would give in before he would," Abbey growled.

"Oh god. And of course, because you're stubborn and competitive, you made it into a sick game, didn't you?"

"Yes," Abbey replied in a small voice.

"And you're already having trouble? My god, Abbey, it hasn't even been one day!" Millie exclaimed. "Are you people rabbits or something? Jesus!"

"No! It's not even that. Well it is a little that. The sex is extremely good. But we've never denied each other or ourselves like this since before we got engaged."

"Ah. So knowing you can't have it makes you want it even more," Millie said in understanding.

"Something like that, yeah. But it's also turned into something else. I don't really know what. It's almost as if we're…uncomfortable around each other. We just drove home in almost complete silence. It was awkward and very unlike us."

"Sounds like it. Gosh, Abb, I'm sorry I gave you the idea. Clearly it's more trouble than it's worth. Maybe you should call it off with Jed. If this is how bad it gets after one day, I can only imagine the damage that might be done if you keep it up."

"I am not going to let him win!"

"Then you deserve what you get. So quit blaming me," Millie replied angrily. With that, she hung up.

Abbey ended up more frustrated than she started. Fine. She would win this if it killed her. And honestly, she thought it might. She jogged upstairs and changed out of her flannel top and jeans and into something a little more apt to get her what she wanted. And then she waited.

After almost half an hour out with Liz, Jed decided it might be time to go inside. He made himself and Liz a sandwich for lunch and sent her to her room to play until dinnertime. Jed went to find Abbey.

He opened the bedroom door and found a rather unexpected sight. The room was dark with the curtains blocking out the afternoon sun. About a dozen candles glowed on the dresser and on either side of the bed. And on the bed sat Abbey, wearing the tight red sweater he had given her for Christmas right before he had proposed. And as far as he could tell, she wasn't wearing anything else. Her gorgeous legs were crossed in front of her, and she had one of his economics textbooks open on her lap. One of her feet swayed to the soft melody of the Sinatra record.

"What's this?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled softly. "What does it look like?"

"I take it you're giving in?"

"I will if you will," Abbey told him. She sat up and put the book aside.

Jed could now see that she was also wearing some form of black lace. His heart started to beat faster. "You know, I could've told you that this stupid game of yours would lead to both of us losing until someone gave in, and then we'd both win."

"I agree. I called Millie and complained to her how miserable we've been all day, and she hung up on me."

He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying not to stare at her legs too much. "Did she get annoyed at your for complaining about not being able to last without sex for one single day?"

"Hey, we didn't have sex yesterday. So even though we couldn't withhold for a whole day, we can actually go much longer without."

He laughed, "Yes, that is true." He leaned in to kiss her.

She stopped him, putting her foot on his chest and pushing him back. "Hang on. Where's Liz?"

"Playing in her room. We ate lunch and I sent her upstairs."

Abbey frowned. "I didn't eat lunch."

"I can make you something later." With that Jed, grabbed her leg and pulled her forward so she would fall onto her back and he could finally end this silly battle between them.

"Wait!"

Jed groaned in frustration. "Good God, Abigail! What now?"

"We have to make a decision about the paint first. That was the whole point of this, after all."

"So we can't have sex until I let you repaint this room, is that it?" he asked angrily.

"No! I just want to figure out what we're doing before we put the issue to bed. Literally."

He flopped backwards onto the bed and let out something between a growl and a groan. "This is insanity."

"Jed! Just tell me why you're so opposed to changing the color of the walls in this room!" Now Abbey was getting frustrated too. His obstinacy was infuriating sometimes.

"This is my grandfather's house! We can't just go around slapping paint on walls and rearranging things that have been here for centuries!"

Abbey allowed his words to echo around them. She shifted to recline beside him. She put a gentle hand on top of his chest. "Jed, it's our house. He gave it to us. It's not his house anymore," she told him softly.

"I know. But it doesn't feel like it's ours. Changing things feels…disrespectful."

She hated hearing his voice sound so small like that. Insecurity was not a good color on him. "Honey, he gave us this house because he wanted it to be ours. It was written right in his will that it was his wish for our family to fill this place with joy and love." She let her words sink in for a moment before continuing, "That's why I want to paint the room and change things around. I don't feel like this place belongs to us, not really. As long as these walls are green, this bedroom will belong to him. But I want to live here for the rest of our lives. I want us to raise our children here and have our grandchildren visit us, and add our memories to the history of the Bartlet farm."

Jed took her hand and held it on top of his heart. "Why don't you show me those samples again?" he asked quietly.

Abbey leapt up and turned on the light to find the colors in the pocket of her jeans that she had discarded earlier. Jed sat up to watch her bend down in those skimpy lace panties he loved so much. She returned, holding the colors up to where she wanted them. "See, this russet on the walls, and then this brown for the trim. What do you think?" she asked hopefully.

He looked at her face, so excited and determined. Boy, did he love her. "It looks great, sweetheart."

She cried out with joy, "I am so glad you like it! Oh, and I got a color I like for my future office."

"I'll look at it later. Go turn out the light."

"How come?"

"Because I like you by candlelight, and Sinatra sounds better in a darkened room. Now get back here so I can _finally_ make love to my wife," he ordered.

Abbey went and turned the lights off again. She let the samples fall out of her hand as she ran back to where he was sitting. She launched herself on top of him, straddling his lap and kissing him deeply, her hands tangled in his thick hair. His hands found their way under her sweater, roaming around her waist and back and ribcage before moving up to her breasts. He moaned into her mouth as she shifted her hips.

She pulled away so he could lift the sweater over her head. "You know," she commented breathlessly, "I think I held out longer than you did."

"You're the one who lit the candles," he countered.

"And you're the one who demanded I shut up about the paint so you could make love to me," she pointed out.

"Abbey, are we really going to do this again?"

She answered him with another searing kiss. They didn't talk again for quite some time.


End file.
